Of Monsters and Men
by BlackDevil WhiteDemon
Summary: Shiro never thought he would have befriended a naga. Nor a fairy princess. Or meet their other array of magical friends. And he sure as hell didn't plan on falling for the naga either. Now the fairy king is gone? What's up with that! And to think this all started just because the bird he nursed back to heath turned out to be a harpy.
1. Prologue

Shiro loved the outdoors; there was just something that was exhilarating about it. Maybe it was the cleaner fresh air, or the feeling of warm rays of sunlight kissing at your skin. Perhaps it was just the sounds of nature. Of birds and animals, of insects and reptiles of the like. Knowing that you were in a place full of life, of plants. Of thing that are in their natural order; the way Mother Nature and God intended them to be. It was nice, plain and simple. So when Shiro got a break off of college to 'recover'. He spent a lot of his time in the woods. Call it whatever you like, but this was one of his favorite places to be. He was use to hiking from an early age, and being the animal lover he is, spending time outside the city was a near necessity. Here, he could let loose and ease his way into a thoughtless rest. Just to let him close his eyes and clear his mind. It was one way to go to help a troubled mind.

 _Flutter flutter flutter_

Something was moving around in the shrubbery below him. "Huh?" Shrio was hiking pretty deep in the woods after following a deer trail that he happened to stumbled upon. There could be anything in there. The noises continued, the sounds and rusting and fluttering lead Shiro to believe there may be a bird in the shrubs. If it was a baby, he shouldn't help it get back into its nest. The bird would smell like a human and the parents would ignore it. Leaving it to starve while they fed and tended to its siblings. On the other hand, if was an adult, it could be hurt from an attack, or have a broken wing from a fall.

 _Flutter flutter flutter "Chirp."_

Screw it, he had to help it. He heard it chirp. He couldn't turn his back on it now. Shiro slowly inched towards the shrubbery, making sure to be cautious as not to startle the poor bird. It quitted as he neared closer. _Shit, it must have heard me._ How couldn't it? Shiro wasn't small by any means. "Shhhhh-" he shoosed it, hoping it would help. When Shiro finally reached the bush, he let out a breath he didn't know he was holding in. "There you are." He pulled back a part of the bush to revel a brown frail bird. "How are you?" He cooed. He was right. There was an injured bird; its wing seemed to be bending at bit too downwards. "You poor thing." It stilled as he talked to it, it must've been very frighten. Shrio slipped off his backpack, undid the zipper, and pulled out a soft towel to move the animal. "I'll take good care of you." He promised and took the creature in his arms. It squirmed and fidgeted. He hummed a slow tune to pacify it as he got his bag and started to trail back to his truck.

* * *

It had been a two whole months since Shiro had first found the bird. To be honest, he wasn't sure what species it was. But he later concluded it was probably part of the Columbidae family. It was male, most likely in its adolescence, and had a dull brown 'coat', which led to Shiro too first believed that it was female. Matthew was his name. Shiro sometimes wonder why he named it that. He just felt the need to call it such. Like, something was telling him to. Actually he found it creepy at first and attempted on trying to name him James. Alas, something felt off and he decided to dub him Matthew.

Today, Shiro felt it was finally time to release him back into the wild. His wing was already healed, and could fly quite well. Its bones didn't seem to take too much damage. So Shiro placed Matthew's cage onto the passenger seat and turned on his truck. Time to make a trip back into those woods.

Not saying that he hasn't been back there in his time of taking care of Matthew, he did go back every so offend, but he just didn't dare to trail as far in as he did that day. He knew it was dangerous and only did it that time because he was spacing out and not paying attention. Which is something you should never do in a forest, especially when you're by yourself.

 _"Tweet, twee, teet!"_

Matthew made a few bird calls, and Shiro could of sworn he could he could feel the excitement and enthusiasm radiating from the bird. He chuckled; it was just his imagination running while. _At least it's running in a good direction._ His grip on the steering wheel tightened, causing his knuckles to slightly turn white. He looked back at the bird, it seeming to stare back at him. Despite only knowing this thing for two months, it felt like the look you would get from a concerned friend of many years. Nervous laughter left his lips. All in his head, he's just making it all up. He repeated this mantra in his head a few times. His muscles relaxed as he continued to drive. Shying his focus over to the road.

The car parked and Shiro steeped out. He ran over to the other side to open the door and take the cage out, and slipped on his backpack. It was time to go hiking. Into the woods. Pretty darn deep. He took a breath of fresh air. Listening in on the calls of birds and animals, he trailed off into the wood. Matthew being relatively quiet for most of the journey and only making noise when Shiro fumbled or stumbled. And there was that one time where he actually tripped. At least he didn't drop the bird cage when he went down to meet the forest floor. Surprisingly, no animals bothered them, or at least no wild life dared to get to close. It was odd, but Shiro ignored it. It wasn't like the forest suddenly went quite or anything; _that_ would be worrisome.

After about an hour or so, (he wasn't really keeping time at the moment) something in his gut told him this was the perfect place to release his feathered friend. "Alright," he unlocked the latched and watched as the bird teetered towards the exit, but never going out. He simply looked up at Shiro with those small beady eyes. Shiro repressed to urge to aww, instead he opted for cooing at the thing, trying to coaxes it out. Matthew looked at the forest, then back to him for a second before slowly descending out of the cage and into the trees. He watch his little friend go, muttering a quite but sincere "Goodbye." to it. His eyes followed it as well as he could, watching before Matthew was so small that he vanished from his line of slight. A bitter-sweet smile graced his face and with that, he picked up the cage and left from their departure site.

It was time to go home.


	2. Chapter 1

Allura hummed to herself as she collected more morning dew. It was a nice bright morning. And she had to hurry on collecting the dew before it all dried up. Allura didn't need to be doing this. In fact, she had plenty at home, but she wanted to. Yes she was a princess, but she was bored. Besides, it was nice to explore the land. She was deep in the woods; no one would find her here, at least not any humans. They never verdure this far out. It was much too dangerous. So she felt safe with the grand tall trees around her. No need for clocking herself to be invisible. She could easily scare off any animal that would dare too bother her. Today was going to be great! The sun was out, momentarily hiding behind passing clouds, leaving behind shade and warmth at the same time. It was lovely. Allura's spirits were high; hopefully nothing will go wrong today. She fluttered her wings as she ascended upwards, going for a puddle of some dew pooling in the middle where the plant's stem met the leaf. To be honest, she's not sure how she didn't hear it at first. It was a loud sound, there were leafs all around the floor and as small as she was, (she was a fairy after all) she could still hear with those tiny but pointy ears. Quickly she stuffed away the dew in her magical pouch and decided this amount was probably enough. The fairy turned around and froze. Staring back at her was a human. And not any human, a tall, buff, male human. _Quizank!_ In that moment of slice, shared between two people of different species, Allura forgot all of her proper manners and diplomatic tendencies. She screamed, and so did the human.

Keith was a naga, and nagas were well known for having long lifespans and being…well, lazy. To put it gently. Although Keith was pretty active for a naga. He still was one, so of course at the moment he was ready for a well-deserved nap. He needed it, and man was he going to nap so hard. _Eh, this tree looks nice. It seems sturdy enough.…_ He was about to slide up said tree when a quite but piercing scream filled his ears. A couple seconds later a deeper and much louder scream accompanied it. "What the fu-?" Keith was a guardian of the forest and the creatures (at least magical ones) in it. He was a paladin per sa. But at the moment he decided it wasn't his problem. Unless it interrupting his nap, in that case; it _would_ be his problem. Keith shrugged and slithered up the tree, coiling his snake tail around the tree's base and resting his human half on top of a partially thick branch. He rested one of his arms under his head and let the other one dangle freely. _Ahhh, this is nice._ Tilting his head to the side, he closed his eyes and waited for sleep to take him. Because he was dozing off, he too failed to hear the mad fluttering of tiny wings and the footfalls of a person.

To say Allura was panicking was an understatement, she was straight up frantic. She should've cloaked herself, she should've paid more attention, and she should've stayed at the castle! Why didn't she listen to father and Coran today!? Allura was regretting ever sneaking out of the castle to explore. Not only did a human see her, but when she tried to escape his peripheral vision; he gave chase! _Why?! I don't understand. Does he want to catch me?_ Allura felt her stomach sink in. That had to be why. If he was truly scared of her, he would've ran in the other direction. But he didn't. _He wants to catch me. That's the only explaining as to why the human would be doing this. Great, I'm the only heir to the throne, and I'm going to be stuffed in a jar full of preserved liquids!_ She rushed past many trees and animals, going by too fast to enchant any of the animals to help her. She felt that if she slowed down or stopped to do such, the human might capture her. More trees blurred into a fresh coat of brown and green paint. Promoting her to go faster, but her little wings could only carry her so far. Up ahead she sensed a different aura. _Red._ "Keith!" She called out, relief flooded her senses. It's one of the paladins. He could help her. She steered herself toward his aura. Quickly, she found herself flying up a tree. "Oh! Keith, wake up. Don't be asleep!" She shouted, trying to get his attention. "I need your assistance." She mumbled to herself. She was going to be honest with herself; this was quite embarrassing.

"Keith, Keith. Keith!" The red-scaled naga stirred a bit from his nap. He could hear someone shouting his name. He should probably get up but…he was so tried and didn't smell any smoke so…what was the poin— Keith suddenly shot up. While contemplating if he should do something or not he caught a whiff of what smelled like human. His eyes quickly dialed to resemble a snake's, he hissed. He heard a small sigh. _Huh?_ "Keith, it's me Allura. Um, a human kinda spotted me. Can you please help me?!"

Keith blinked. _Allura?_ "Princess, what are you doing out here? Shouldn't you he back at the castle?" Keith furrowed his eyebrows but tensed at the same time. The scent was getting stronger, and now that he was fully awake he could heard the footsteps approaching his area. Allura looked scared, and quite frankly, it scared him a bit as well. Allura didn't get scared very often. _Maybe the human's a fairy hunter or something?_

She straightened up her posture, trying to keep an air of formality. "Ummm, well Keith, I'll leave this to you. Fairwell." She wished him that much and before he could get out a word, Allura flew past him.

The footsteps came to a halt, heavy breathing ensued. As Keith turned to face the assailant, he readies himself to fight. Instead he froze as if looking into Medusa's eyes. The human looked... He had... One of his arms was metal and his hair had a tuff of white. It was most unusual. The man merely looked back, also stuck onto the monster's gaze. "Uhhhh..." Keith started. "You're dreaming...?" Keith's voice raised an octave at the last word and he mentally kicked himself. _Well that was lame._ The man looked him up and down, inspecting his tail especially. The naga couldn't help but to blush at the gesture. He wasn't use to this; that was Lance's thing. Their eyes caught each other's glazes once more and something in him flared. A loud hissing sound ripped from his throat. He bared his fangs and boosted himself upward to appear bigger. (Which, he probably was, he did have the long tail after all.) The human seemed surprised and stumble back a few. Strutting out incoherent gibberish. (Or at least that what it sounded like to Keith, it could've been another language for all he knew. He made a mentally note to ask the Holts later.) Usually, in this situation, Keith would attack. After all, out of all the four paladins, he was labeled as the most violent. But something churned in his gut (he most always went with his gut) and decide he should go with flight instead of fight. _Oh, great. Now I'm starting to sound like Hunk._ He hissed again for good measure and rebounded off the tree and slithered past it. Quickly disappearing from the human slight. "Oh my God." Keith heard the human speak before he tried to find Allura's scent, he wanted a few answers.


	3. Chapter 2

Keith slithered through the forest floor, making way past the dead dried leaves and occasionally a fallen tree. He stopped for a moment, tasting the air for a second. His eyes dialed to a snake's once more as he began to smell the air. _Allura's scent. Definitely Allura's scent._ He hissed in the direction of the smell. He had to find her, and quick. Keith had so many questions. Who was that human? Why was she outside her castle? Why was she spotted? And most importantly, **_why did she go to him for help?_** _Ah, probably for convenience stake_. _I was just the closest, so she came to me._ Allura's scent was getting stronger. He could find her in a few minutes, which would be easy; getting her to answer his questions might be the hard part.

Allura happened to be laying down on a tree stump when a voice spoke to her. "Allura, wake up. Are you dead?" She opened her eyes to revel multicolored irises.

"Huh? Oh, Keith!" She sat up immediately. Rubbing her eyes too wipe away any sleepiness she might have. "That was quick. You eradicated the problem I assume?" Fluttering her wing she flew up too land on her friend's shoulder. Keith in return decided to lay his top half upon the tree stump.

The naga looked off to the side, recalling his very recent encounter with the human. "Uhhh, no. Not really..."

"What? I thought you of all peop-" Allura clapped a hand over her mouth. She probably shouldn't say that, that could be taken as outright rude and impolite. "Eh, sorry, forget I said that." Her tone was awkward and she wore a sheepish smile to cover it up.

Keith grunted while scrunching his nose. "Don't care."

The fairy sighed and flew off her perch, prompting her friend to lean more on top of the stump, resting his head on his crossed arms. This time, Allura decided to sit on a 'large' mushroom nearby him. As many other mushroom around, it was red with yellow spots. "Well, did he...see you?" she asked this question slowly, as she wasn't so sure of what just happened herself. You see, humans shouldn't technically be able to see them. Not as what they really are anyway. Some humans just have the ability to see them and others had a certain type of 'thing' happen to them that allows them to do so. The latter is rare though. Both creatures had their guard down today, and didn't do anything extra to insure they won't be seen normally. Because of such, the human with the so called 'seer' ability saw right thought their weak disguise that very magical creature seemed to possess. It was kinda like a default cloak. It worked yes, but it wasn't really strong. Seers and other magical creatures alike could see you.

"He did, he kept looking at my tail."

"Did he attempt to attack you?"

"No."

"Oh."

Suddenly Keith remembered why he had tracked down the princess in the first place. "Allura..." He drew out, getting up from his resting place to tower over her even more. "What exactly where you doing outside of the castle? If you're not going out with a guard to accompany you, then at the very least cloak yourself." The naga spoke in a firm tone, although the fairy couldn't help to find the situation a bit humorous. Keith wasn't usually the one for scolding people; he usually was the one for "calling out people". Whatever the bell Lance meant by that.

"True, but you know I can take care of myself. How was I supposed to know that a human was going to pop up? We are pretty deep in the forest after all. A human must stray far the man-made paths to be lead here. None venture into here."

"For someone who always talks about being prepared for everything and anything. You sure are lax about this right now."

Allura shuffled a bit on the mushroom. "I'm well aware of that fact Keith. I'm been told by everyone I'm too 'uptight'." She added air quotations at the last word. "Even father has confronted me about the matter."

Keith squinted upon hearing her explanation. It wasn't really much of an explanation, but she did dodge the question, so he assumed she knew what she did wrong and dropped the subject. He held out a hand to her and mumbled. "I just think you've been hanging around Lance too much." Allura jump into his palm as he moved her over to his shoulder.

"Actually it's quite the contrary. It's more so Pidge." She laughed.

"But Lance is always around Pidge."

"He would be around Hunk not Pidge"

"Whatever."

* * *

Shiro was sitting in his living room. Replaying what had happened in his head again and again. He went to the forest to release Matthew. On the trek back, he saw something. At first he thought it was a butterfly with really weird wings, but as he got closer out if curiosity, it turned out not to be the case. Shiro rubbed at his eyes. Maybe, just maybe he was hallucinating it all. No way did he chased after a fairy, or saw a snake person either. _Ah...what were they called again? Nagia? Nagn? Naga!_ Yeah, no way. Nagas are fake, fairies are fake, he probably just had an episode, that's all. _Episodes aren't like that. His_ brain argued. He shook his head. _Nope, nope, nope. Not dealing with this. I'm going to sleep._ He let out a bitter chuckle that screamed, _'I've lost control of my life, but I'm not going to deal with this. No way, no how.'_

* * *

The human eventually came back, something drew him there, and Allura had a good idea on what it was. It was mostly likely morbid curiosity, but it could've been somethings else. Magic perhaps. Maybe he could feel it, maybe he couldn't. Either way, one thing Allura had to say for certain, was she liked watching him each time he came back. Plain and simple. She didn't how to sugarcoat it. Of course, poor unfortunate Keith was dragged into this creepy but entertaining habit of hers. There were a few reasons for that of course. One, the red paladin was an excuse to get out of the castle without a guard or guards accompany her. Two, only he knew about the human as of now. And three, Keith was the only one who could really watch the human from afar with her. Pidge was a harpy, and would have a hard time getting around the forest floor with her wings, tail, and talons for feet. Also, her older brother Matt, who had been missing for a while, had finally returned home not that long ago. As one would think Pidge was stuck to her brother's side like moss to a log. Lance was out of the question. He was a mermaid or merman, whatever you like to call merfolk and while he could be on land for large periods of time. He would most likely freak out being this far away from the water. Plus, he wasn't all that fond of humans. Allura felt that if Lance was here for some bizarre reason, he would probably try to bite the human's throat to kill. Hunk was scared of humans; Allura would never drag him along. That would just be mean; he's too nice for that. This is a good thing. Not only is he really strong, but he's also a cecaelia. So, good magic skills. Again, he too can be out of water for a while, but this is probably too far into the forest. Hunk would definitely freak out being this far away.

All in all, Keith was her best and _only_ option, really.

Coran didn't count. No way was she letting her father's best friend know about this. His was like a second father to her. Surely he would tell Alfor what was going on. Which would probably result in the human getting his memories erased and the gift of a strong urge to avoid going into this forest. Fairies weren't petty when it was about magic. And clothes, they were really fancy about clothes. Unlike some _other_ types of fairies.

"You realize we're practically stalking him, right?" Keith piped up one day. He was curled up in a humongous brush, watching the human give some water to a parched squirrel. Allura turned her head to look up at him. She frowned.

"Of course. But what else do you suggest we do Keith? There's not much around, and as much as I love my kingdom; I tire of it."

"There're other things we can do than stalk a human. What if someone catches us? Or his scent rubs off on us?"

Allura pouted her cheeks and moved down a branch. "The only ones who'll catch us are the animals, and we never gotten close enough for his scent to rub off on us in the first place."

"You're usually more cautious than this."

"I know, but I really want to do this. Humans are fascinating creatures aren't they?" The fairy looked back at the human with fondness. In return the naga rolled his eyes.

"Hey? Is someone there?"

Allura squeaked and quickly flew past the brush, leaving Keith behind in the dust once more. _Damn._ He cursed. _She got to stop doing that._ The person walked towards the brush, prompting Keith to pop out as an attempt to scare him.

"Ahhh!"

 _"Hisssss!"_

"Oh, it's you again. Hello."

 _What?_ Keith recoiled from the human. He looked around a bit, waiting for him to make a move. The other person seemed to be waiting as well. "Um, aren't you going to do something?" He tried not to let his confusion show on his face; alas to no avail.

The other man smiled, it was a nice smile. The kind that reminded Keith of the ones he would get from the Altean elders. He could tell they didn't approve of his ' _attitude_ ' but were still trying to be nice and polite. His smiled seem a bit different, but the naga couldn't quite place his clawed finger on it. "No. I just want to know your name." The man licked his lips before continuing. "My name's Shiro by the way." Keith blinked and stood mesmerized for a couple moments.

"Ummm, my name's Keith." He didn't know why he gave this person his name, but he decided at the moment that he didn't care. At least he now knows the human's name. The human—no Shiro, seemed ecstatic at the newly received information. He took a small step forward. This; Keith wasn't going to tolerate. The naga bared his fangs as a warning; Shiro seemed to get the message and took a step back. "You're weird." The comment slipped past Keith's tongue before he could filter himself. Not that he was one for doing such anyway. He thought that comment would surely aggravate Shiro, maybe prompt him to start to be aggressive towards him. Others have with lesser insults from the snake monster before. Instead, Shiro merely laughed.

"Thank you, I know I am. But we all are, aren't we?" He wiped a non-existent tear off the corner of his eye. His face suddenly changed, going from a relaxed happy face to a somber, almost sad one. Keith could feel himself tense up upon seeing the act. The action only made it seemed like he was going to attack at any moment and the laxation was all just a quick cheap act. "Sorry if me getting close to you makes you feel threaten." Shiro spoke softly. "I really mean no harm. I just think the wood are quite beautiful, and behold such interesting creatures."

"Am...am I one of those creatures?" The question was meant to tease the human, as Keith felt the need to taunt him. But instead of coming out with a cocky tone, like he had in mind. It tumbled out as a soft inquiry of a question. The naga mental cursed himself again, he was acting like a fool. He didn't have time for this nonsense. Well, actually... That is a lie. He had all the time he wanted. But that doesn't mean he should use on this.

Shiro slowly nodded his head. "Of course you are. You're a naga, right?" Keith mimicked the gesture the other did a few seconds ago as a response. "May I ask you a question?" He narrowed his eyes at Shiro, but hummed in affirmation. "Do you know that fairy I saw a while back?"

"You mean the one you chased? The one you scared half-to-death?" Keith raised an eyebrow as a smirk formed on his face. Now, he was starting to control the conversation they were having. Well, sort of at least. "As matter of fact, I do. But I must really be get going. There are places I need to be."

"Wait-!"

 _Too late._ Keith sprung pass the bushes and pushed himself by the trees. He aimlessly wandered for a bit, get trying to put distance between the human and himself. He just had to get away. Talking with a human like that...it was just way too weird. Keith stopped dead in his track when a whiff of Allura's scent danced by his nose. As usual, he hissed at nothing and went in the direction of said scent.

* * *

Shiro stood still. Scrutinizing the area the naga had departed from. He laughed to himself. _Holy shit- I just had a conversation with a fucking naga. What the hell?_ He took a deep breath. Was Keith the one watching him all this time? Shiro always felt watched anytime he would come back to this forest ever since he saw the fairy. Speaking of the fairy, he wondered who she was. At least, he assumed it was a she. The high pitch screaming and long hair hinted at female, but he wasn't so sure. It _was_ a fairy after all, he had no idea. But still, at least he knew the naga's name. "Keith." Shiro tested the sound of its name. "Who names their son Keith? That's kind of a dorky name." He spoke out loud to nothing, letting the trees and animals listen to his thoughts. Keith was a dorky name, right next to Dean and Eugene. He furrowed his brows, now that he thinks about it...that's pretty human sounding right? Why would a monster be named that? "How strange." He muttered. A little bird flew by, circling around Shiro a bit before landing in a nearby tree. He glanced up too see said bird and smiled. "Hello again. How do you keep finding me?" Shiro spoke to the bird with fondness. It was one of the only weird things he could actually explain. This bird was Matthew. He consistently saw him on his hiking trips ever since he released him. Shiro didn't question why a bird of all things would always find him. After all, there's been many stories of pets returning to their owners over a vast distract all the time. This situation was kinda like the same thing, right? Matthew chirped at him and flew off, probably back to his flock. _Do birds even have flocks in forests?_ Probably.

* * *

The two friends laughed at the unusual happening. Allura found it funny how Keith of all people had yet again; had _another_ small chat with the human that she was so eager to keep tabs on. Keith was laughing more so on the grounds that the whole thing was pretty ridiculous in itself. The human didn't seem scare of him; in fact, he did things that leaned forward trying to befriend him. Which is a crazy idea within itself. On the other hand, Keith wasn't really sure what he was expecting from the human. When he was spotted, he opted for reacting to whatever action the human took. Small talk was not one of those things he anticipated. "No, but really." Keith said in between breaths, trying to calm himself down. "The human—I mean, Shiro. Has a weird scent."

"Whatever do you mean?"

"I was actually close enough to legitimately smell him. He smelt funny. I'm not sure how to explain it, he just does."

"How so?"

"Like, his scent's a bit off."

"Off, like in human? Or in general?"

"Human off."

Alluar hummed in understanding. "Well then, I think that's enough excitement for one day. Shall we head off to the beach?"

Keith shrugged. "Sure." Allura took off towards their dentation, and he followed suit.

* * *

 **First off, let me just say that this chapter was a heck a lot longer than I thought it would be. Sure, it's only 2,777 words (not counting this note). I know that is not a lot, but I didn't plan for it to be that long. Second off, I know they're in the woods/forest. The place Allura called a 'beach' isn't really a beach. You'll find out what it really is later. :)**


	4. Chapter 3

Now that Shiro knew he was being watched while at the forest, he decided he might as well talk to his 'newfound' company. Usually, he would feel someone watching him, and would sit down on a sheet he brought and would just start talking. While that does sound dangerous as it could be anything stalking him, he felt this sense of safety at this place. Hell if he knows why. Anyway, Keith would always be the one to talk back. Somedays he was chatty, other days he simply grunted as a reply. Over a month of doing this, he learned that Keith did in fact have a buddy with him. Unlike the naga, his friend was shy and didn't want to show themselves or speak. Keith had to talk for the both of them. The thing Shiro just couldn't figure out though, was if Keith was actually comfortable around him or not. Sometimes, the naga would drape himself on a tree branch above him. Other times the naga would barely peek out of a bush or stay hidden from view. It was confusing, but he decided that it was like a stray cat. Some days it liked you, some days it didn't. Regardless, it didn't matter; he was one step closer to befriending it.

Now, only if he knew why he felt the need to befriend the naga...that would be great.

* * *

There was a werewolf in the forest. It didn't belong to any pack. The packs usually linger in the nearby city, and hanged out in the cliff area or certain parts of the wood. But this werewolf? It was definitely a rogue. It smelt different, was wild, and was randomly just killing animals. Not eating them, just killing them. This behavior didn't prompt anyone from talking any action that would be legal, per se. But its presence did spread like wildfire. Everyone was weary, just waiting for it to do something very wrong. So they could just get rid of it faster.

It was an outsider barging into their home and making a mess. The creatures of the forest didn't appreciate it, not at all. So when Keith slithered upon a corpse of a mangled female harpy that just permeated with the smell of werewolf; he knew this was the prefect reason to attack the rogue wereanimal. All he had to do was find that crazed lunatic. "Hisss!" He didn't know if this harpy was part of the flock Pidge was in, but he knew regardless that it would freak her out. And she wasn't really much of a fighter, so she couldn't help him with this. Lance and Hunk are merfolk and he guessed they could get seriously hurt by this thing. And while Hunk might be useful with his magic, he highly doubted Hunk would want to fight this thing anyway. And Allura was out if the question. He knew she was busy at the moment. And he couldn't ask Coran, that'll be too awkward. In those short few seconds of thinking, the naga decided he should just go after the werewolf himself. He didn't need backup. He could do this by himself.

* * *

A red-scaled naga slowly closed in on a werewolf drinking from a river. The furred beast's breathing was ragged and rigged. It was loud basically. Dried blood was caked on its fur; tuffs of it were actually straight-up gone. The scent of it hit the naga nose as he got closer, making him gag. It was utterly fowl. _The scent said werewolf, but it's smell said Dogman. Ugh, this thing stinks. Oh my gods._ Unfortunately, this also met that the beast heard him as well.

"Grrrrrr!"

 _Shellfish._ Keith swore in merfolk slang that he happened to pick up from his friends. He just made this harder for himself. No longer did he hold the upper hand of the element of surprise. That was ruined. _Great._

The werewolf lunged at him. Keith dodged out of the way, and the werewolf tumbled into a nearby tree. _That gotta hurt._ The were howled at the pain and started towards him again. This time Keith moved out of the way and clawed at it. His nails gazed its flesh and a sticky red residue was left on his fingertips. The roar it let out was weird, but that wasn't something that mattered to Keith.

He was going to kill it.

It snapped at him before charging straight for him. _Idiot._ Keith waited until it was close enough before turning himself and using the momentum to his advantage. His tail swung straight for its chest and it went flying back a few when his tail hit it. Although, Keith looked heavier than he really was, so this didn't do too much to hurt it. Maybe just knock the air out if it. Keith hissed and the werewolf snarled back. It charged towards him and in this moment Keith knew one of them would not make it out alive. They were _both_ aiming to kill.

Maybe he should've gotten the others to back him up.

Keith felt a burning pain at his side. _It had scratched him._ He looked into its eyes. They were glazed over and glosses. For a moment Keith almost wondered if this was even a werewolf. He didn't feel its human side. A shiver went down his spine. He felt a ping of fear as he went to claw at it once more.

* * *

Pidge was flying out to scout for the rogue werewolf who was breaking a lot of rules. Not just killing random animals for fun, no, he was going places he wasn't supposed too. Pidge found it weird that a—

 _Hey is that a fellow harpy?_

She flew downwards to see who it was. Quickly enough, she noticed the pool of red surrounding the harpy, who was on the floor, _unmoving. Oh no._ As she landed, she could smell two things; this was a fellow 'sister' harpy, one within her flock. And two, this corpse smelt like wolf. So she assumed it must have been the rouge. Who else? A normal wolf shouldn't be able to do this, not this messily anyway. She wrinkled her nose and scratched the ground three times with her talon. A sign of respect for the death. Now she had just one problem, does she tell Allura first? Or her flock? Harpies tend to seek revenge on those who kill members of their clique...so...

Yeah, she was just going to tell Allura. _Tell the flock afterwards._ She noted that and took off; but not before closeting the eyes of the poor soul with her wing. She couldn't help it, it freaked her out. She still wasn't all that use to the slight of her deceased kin.

* * *

By the time Pidge actually found the werewolf, he was under a fallen tree, and a red-scaled naga lay not too far away. _What the fluff?!_ She swooped down towards the naga, and she was right. Of course it was Keith... Who else? She met with the dirt floor and turned to see the wolf- _Nope. Werewolf. He smells like a wolf, you just can't get the entire scent. Your nose isn't built for that._ He didn't seem to be moving. _Is he dead? Please be dead._ She slowly hobbled over toward the beaten bloody body. And lay her head on his chest. _No heartbeat._ It was dead. _Great! Now I can check on Keit—Oh Gods, Keith!_ In a panic, the harpy did this weird slightly-flying-hobble-thing to get over to Keith faster. "Keith, Keith!" She called out. When she got over to him, she tried shaking him to the best of her ability with her three clawed fingers for 'hands' that were morphed into her wings. He groaned and started to open his eyes.

"Ow." He mumbled.

"Ow? That's all you got to say for yourself!? There's a big gash in your side! You're covered in scratches!" The harpy practically screeched at the naga. And while she was right for the most part, the latter statement was an over aggression.

"Is that stupid werewolf dead?"

"Of course is it! There a huge fallen tree on it! How did it even get there...?"

"Long story."

"I bet, now hold still. I was on my way to Allura anyhow. I'll just get her over here." She left without waiting for a response.

"Wait! Ugh, Pidge come back."

She flew off, past the canopy and into the midday sky. He whined at the sharp pain in his side. That werewolf had got him good; he tried to ignore the feeling of blood trickling down his side. "Ughhh..." _Someone end me._ He thought bitterly.

* * *

"And you're telling me you left him there?!"

"Hey, I couldn't bring him back with me. And if you say: 'oh, but Pidge you fool, what if someone tried to eat him', You know as good as I that Red would scare any potential predator going for a wounded naga!" The harpy wasn't yelling, but she was defiantly raising her voice. The fairy princess still looked displeased, but she sighed and shook her head. "Look, just-" She paused, trying to rephrase what she was going to say. "Go tell Lance and Hunk about what happen. But you must, also say that I order them not to come over and try to help. If I need any help healing Keith, I will reach out to the healers for help."

Pidge wanted to point out something, but she kept her mouth closed. Sharp teeth and all. "So I can tell the others, but I have to make them stay put?"

Allura flashed her a smile. "Exactly!"

Oh, screw it; she was going to point it out. "But Hunk also has healing magic! Why can't **he** come along?!"

"Because, mixing up magic between two different species isn't always good. Sometimes, you can hurt the subject really badly. Now, head towards the beach, and I'll head towards Keith."

The light-brown haired harpy watched as the fairy princess flew off. She wished the Keith didn't rub off on the princess this much, but what else could she do? She huffed and took off towards the beach to tell Hunk and Lance. She wondered what would be their exact reactions to the news. On one wing, how would they react to the fact the rouge werewolf is dead? _Probably with glee_. She mused. _Lance might be a bit bitter that he couldn't take the glory for killing it._

* * *

I flew close to the forest floor; I was in a rush and did not want to collide with any birds or bugs right now. I had to get over to Keith right away. "Ugh, of course he goes after the quiznaking werewolf by himself. Can't you ever wait for the others?" I went past a tangle of vine. Quite frankly, I wouldn't want to go through those, they're very easy to get caught in. Especially for someone as tiny as me.

 _Thump_

It startled me, loud and _nearby. What the—_

"Where did I put...ah, here you are."

"Wait..." I slowed down my pace quite exponentially. Almost coming to a full stop. _Is that...?_

* * *

((A/N: Hello! **PLEASE READ ME OR YOU'RE MISS AN IMPORTANT PART OF THIS STORY.** I have to tell you something. [Yes, I am talking about you, the reader who's reading this fanfiction.]

I have tried to write this part...but I just can't? I'm wasting too much time on this part, and I'm getting frustrated and I end up not liking anything I produced?

So instead I'm going to tell you what I was trying to fricking write. Because I suck. Also, this is kind of a cop out... :( I'm sorry.

More or less I wanted Allura to notices that Shiro was ~conveniently~ nearby. [BC PLOT, THAT'S WHY.] She would then address him. He's confused and surprised at the same time. Allura explains that she's the 'shy friend' that Keith talks about and speaks for. Shiro's like, 'oh, you're that fairy i saw!'

She b like. 'yea. thanks for chasing me btw' /sarcasm sarcasm/

Shiro le blush/is flustered. 'Oh. Opps sorry aboot that.'

'Nah fam, u fine. I need your help tho.' Serious Allura is serious.

He be like. 'Ok what."

And basically she tells him Keith is hurt pretty badly and she needs his help to help her heal him quicker. And Shiro agrees, but only bc he's really starting to get to know Keith and the fact he's not sure what will happen to him if he refuses to help.

So they get their butts over there. And Keith is still down and all. Allura wakes him up. And he's put off by Shiro's scent. [bc keef is wounded - and he smell human - that connect as 'human is big threat right now; u is dOWN AND EASY TO KILL']

Allura get him to be more passive, and then she command Shiro to do things and get stuff for her magic spells(?) and yea. They heal keef. :0)

I was going to have a large section where I basically explain their [Allura, Shiro, and Keith's] friendship forming and stuff. [Over time.] And talk about some things Shiro learns/learned and some stuff that would help you understand how I built this AU.

But no, I'm just going to do that in Ch5. This chapter just ends after Allura and Shiro heal Keith and Allura thanks him. And tells him to close his eyes. He does so, and when he opens them, he's back in his bed, and it's 6:00 AM in the next day. Shiro feels a flower in his pocket. It was one of the flowers Allura made him get. He knows that it was all real.

Alright, it was supposed to go like that. The End. Bye.))


	5. Chapter 4

Lance woke up. His ocean blue eyes opened up to stare at the ceiling above him. He groaned, knowing that he'll have to get up early today. He had a meeting to attend to. Particular with the other 3 Paladins of Voltron (plus Princess Allura and Coran) to discuss the whole werewolf thing, which honesty, isn't too much of a deal (in his option anyway), but nothing too big ever happens here anymore. So maybe that's why all the landfolk/land dwellers were freaking out over this. It's been relatively peaceful for the time being. Lance swam above his clam bed (It's literally just one of those large clams from Spongebob opened up. So one can use the bottom inside as a bed.) to out stretch his arms.

 _'Pop.'_

"Ahhh, that feels much better." Lance rotated his neck as well before swimming to the perpetration room. Once there, he started his daily routine. And while he was a mermaid, or merman, whatever tickles your fancy; so he had natural beautiful skin and hair that wouldn't let salt ruin it. Not that he had to worry about that part anyway, _he lived in fresh water._ It wouldn't hurt to do a little more to add to his looks? He rather liked his appearance. Call him vain if you want, but he knew what he liked. "Where did my tail potion go...?" Lance mumbled to himself, looking back at the mirror tiredly. Maybe...maybe one of his siblings or cousins took it. "Maria!" He called out, going into the hole that acted as an entryway. "Maria, did you borrow my things? I need them back, I have to go soon." He drifted above his slighter older sister, his arms crossed as he looked down at her resting figure. She cracked an eye open. "Go away." She moaned into the flesh and covers of her bed, turning her head away to get her point across. "Maria." Lance spoke again, his time in a more firm tone before floating down to poke at her exposed backside. "Oh, in the name of Neptune." Her voice was muffled by the 'pillows', she looked at him and quickly got out that they were in her shared (by some of the other sisters) perpetration room. He hummed in a delighted response and kissed her temple, telling her 'thank you' and 'go back to sleep'. He swam over to snatch the bottle before heading back to his room.

Lance wondered sometimes why he still did all this stuff for his looks. He was already pretty enough and he had a mate, so there should be no reason for his to constantly groom himself. Blue eyes stared back at his reflection, and in that moment, Lance decided that it was his lack of faith in his abilities. He didn't feel like he could do enough. He could manipulate water and was venomous. That's it. His magic skills in general were pretty damn shitty. It didn't help that his best friend was a cecaelia, so he was natural amazing with that stuff. Even Keith had stronger skills in magic and he barely even used them! But then again, Keith's terrible at actually using it. Like that one time where Keith tried to make it rain and the clouds he made ended up releasing acid rain. At least Lance could properly use whatever amount he had. Honesty that whole part was extremely ironic. It also could be the fact he has this thought of his mate leaving him. She was young, and a completely different species than him. She could leave him anytime she wanted as they haven't actually 'mated' mated* each other yet. So technically either of them had the right to leave their partnership right now. That scared Lance. Even though Pidge would never do that, he couldn't help it.

He sighed, clutching the strap of his bag. He needed to leave; he had somewhere to be.

* * *

Lance snickered at Hunk's comment, the both of them swimming to the part of the shore that lead off to the grounds they usually meet Pidge at. Man, what would Lance do without Hunk? _Die, probably._ He thought. "Hey, man?"

"Yeah dude?" Lance practically hummed out his response.

"Why do you think that werewolf killed that poor harpy?" Hunk looked nervous. And he understood why. That could've been Pidge or Matt who was killed.

"I don't know." He replied. "The werewolf didn't eat any part of her. It just...killed her for nothing. That thing's a rogue. It doesn't have any territory. It was on neutral grounds. It _had_ no reason." He spoke strongly with the last sentence, his face showing his obvious disgust.

Hunk nodded slowly, silently agreeing with his friend.

* * *

They beached themselves on the strip of land they had all affectionately dubbed 'the beach'. Lance squinted as the sudden brightness of the sun as the light kissed at his eyes. His friend next to him raised himself upwards with his tentacles while he merely used his tail to slither across the ground. Kind of like a snake's, but not exactly. It took such a long time to make Lance admit to the fact that he and Keith moved around quite similarly when on land. "Ugh, I hate being on land. I'm out of my element." The blue scaled mermen leaned on the larger cecaelia.

Hunk chuckled. "Yeah, you and I both." He rubbed the other's head affectionately. "Now, come up. We're going to be late."

Lance moved his hair to the sides of his face. He and Hunk had finally gotten to dry land, and were going too met up with the young harpy soon. "Yeah, I know. You good though buddy?" He asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Do you hear that though?" Hunk turned to look both ways, not spotting anything in his peripheral vision.

"Yeah... W-what is that?" Lance's 'ear' fins flexed to strain his hearing. What was that? It's definitely not some animal trying to communicate. Or at least any animal he could understand. _Huh, weird..._

* * *

Allura flew up on the makeshift table; really it was just a rather large stone cut in half, vertically. But they made do. "Everyone, I think we all know why we I called this meeting this morning."

"To torture us?" Lance chimed in. A questioning tone in his voice, but she knew he was only joking.

She sighed. "No, but it might feel like it." She joked back. "Anyway, Coran, do you have the skin film?"

"I think I have it somewhere in my..." The advisor dug into his satchel, looking from his item of desire. "Ah ha! Found it." He exclaimed.

"Alright, good. Now, everyone stand back. I'm going to do the size spell now." Obediently, everyone backed anyway a little bit. Allura sat on top of the rock's flat surface. She chanted what sounded like gibberish, but really was Altean. Her eyes began to glow a white color, solid and blank. The wind rushed in faster and the two fairies were engulfed in light. The other covered theirs eyes or looked away. When the light subsided, there were two human sized fairies in its place. Allura crossed her legs and shifted her skirt to cover her thighs and kneecaps better. Coran next to her set the skin film on the rock as well. She stretched her arms to the sky. "Ouch, I haven't big this large in a while." Hunk laughter at her comment and the princess jumped off the rock. Her wings swaying as she did so. Allura smiled. "Now, who would like to go first?" She asked her paladins and friends.

* * *

"Yeah, you're not wrong, but why was he here in the first place? Why didn't nobody ever see him in his human form? Only his werewolf from." Lance leaned into the circle, trying to emphasize on his point.

Hunk next to him sighed. "This is ridicules, we know close to nothing about this werewolf. He's dead, and people are still freaking out over this thing." He point over to the plie of fresh and fur that was the deceased werewolf. He still hasn't returned to his human form, which confused everyone greatly. Usually, if a were is killed, especially when they're in their beast from, they revert back into who they truly are. But this one has yet to do so…

"Not to mention that others are quite angry over this." Allura piped in. "Should we issue a report of sorts to tell everyone that the threat has been neutralized?"

"We can," Pidge rolled her head, hearing the 'pop' sound, "but I still have to inform my flock about the...most recent killing..." Everyone sent a look of pity her way.

Keith leaned back. "We'll do both." He gestured towards the dead body. "And we can let the people decide what they want to happen to its body."

" _His_ body." Lance corrected.

"Whatever." He shot back at the merman. Keith looked at the fairies for approval.

Coran spoke quickly to Allura in Altean. Asking if that would be a good course of action, because honesty, he thought letting the other werewolfs decide what happens would be better. Allura hummed at his suggest, telling him back that this werewolf was a rouge; the other packs wouldn't care as he wasn't in any of them. She continued, saying that she personally wanted to burn the body to put the people at ease.

As the two fairies conversed with each other for an agreement of sorts, the paladins started to talk to one another. "Are you sure you're okay Keith?" Lance placed a hand on the naga's shoulder. Keith looked at him and shrugged.

"I'm sore, but that's about it." He rubbed the back of his neck. "Still surprised on healing magic not leaving behind scars."

"That's because it's that fancy fairy magic." Hunk grunted as Lance leaned into him without warning. "If I did it, my magic probably would've left behind a big scar at your side." He supplied.

"So true." Lance added. "That's why I had an ugly mark upon my back for longest time."

Pidge added herself in the conversion, cutting Lance off before he could add anything else. "Yeah, didn't you get Coran to perform some spell that easers marks or something?" The smirk he had as he crossed his arms said it all. Pidge groaned at his action, while Keith rolled his eyes. Hunk just chuckled. "Why am I not surprised? I swear to the Gods. If you were one of the seven deadly sins, you would be vanity." She spoke a bit more harshly than she had anticipated, making her internally cringe at her own tone.

The mermaid simply raised an eyebrow. "We'll you're a gluttony dear, always wanting to know more information than you already have." The group remained silent for the moment, looking at each other.

"And Keith would be wrath. But I don't think I have to explain why."

Hunk's joke made the others laugh; a playful 'Hey!' emanated from Keith. But he was laughing too. They spent the next ten minutes talking about which sin they would be and why. All the while Allura and Coran kept discussing what to do. When they did eventually find a resolution, they walked over to the paladins, successfully hushing them all. Coran spoke up first. "We think informing the people first about the fact the werewolf has been slanted would be best. We should also let the other packs." He made a gesture at the word. "Do what they want with the body."

Allura nodded. "He is no longer our problem, nor do should we have to deal with the body. We simply must deal with the aftermath of it all." She waved around her hand in a circle. "I think you know what we must do." She smiled at them.

* * *

 ***No, that is not referring to the nasty nasty. Ewww. It's supposed to mean that they haven't done this little ritual thing that would make them 'mated'. (Mermaids do not necessarily mate for life, [I guess they could if they wanted to.] but harpies do. They won't find another mate once theirs has died. They'll just be along forever afterwards.)**

 **Anyway, sorry that this chapter was kinda short. (In the sense that barely anything happens. Although this chapter is a little over 2100+ words.) So anyway, this took me like…3…or 4 days to write? Something like that. And don't worry. Chapter 5 will have all that good stuff. More bonding between Allura & Keith with Shiro and you'll learn stuff about this AU. And what Voltron is in this Universe. **

**It will take me a while to write, plus I have to try to update some stories I haven't touched in a while. :(**


	6. Chapter 5

**Hey guys, Chapter 5 is finally here! Sorry this took so long, I bumped into a problem writing this, and other stuff. Anyway, I hoped you read that A/N at the end of Chapter 3. Because if you didn't, you'll be kinda confused on this chapter. And probably last chapter too. You really needed to read that A/N, it was important. I make A/Ns for a reason you know. I feel like I made this chapter kinda dry since I was rushing it. But I hope you can forget me. After this chapter, it'll be Shiro interacting with Keith and Allura like friends. So they won't be awkward anymore. And don't worry! I will write Sheith into it. It's just going to take awhile for that to develop.**

* * *

Shiro took a sip of his tea from his mug. He tasted the weak flavoring as it washed across his tongue and felt the warm liquid travel down his throat. Honestly, he loved tea. Plain and simple. He also loved space and all it's limitless possibilities. He loved the great outdoors as well; speaking of the outdoor. The young adult wonder when he became used to the fact he was friends with a hot-head naga, and a strange fairy princess. He put his mug down. Maybe now was the time for aspirin and some of that smoothing violin music his (human) friends seemed to like so much.

* * *

Shiro had woke up from his drug inducted nap, and had since then did his online work plus reading a couple of pages from an online-textbook. "Phew." He closed his laptop and shoved it away from himself. He was done for today, he might as well watch some TV for a few hours like evrey human being he knows. Or he could sit down on his favorite comfy yellow chair and reminisce.

He decided to do the latter.

Shiro slowly eased himself onto the pushy cushion of his chair, leaned against the back of it, and rested his arms where need be. It was pretty nice, the air was calm, the house was quite, and Shiro had nothing else to do. Well, honestly, he could clean the kitchen, but...sitting down was much less tiring. He closed his eyes and thought about the last three months. They had been hectic as all hell. Well, kind of. Shortly after he had woken up from helping Allura heal Keith, he became dead-set on befriending those two. They were the only things that were interesting in his life at the moment. Of course, he took a week break right after. Things had escalated from two awkward meetings, into have nice chats (although something's one-sided), then suddenly into 'help me heal this guy or he'll die, maybe'. It was weird, but what wasn't about the whole thing? Shiro got up from his chair to get himself a drink. Just plain water, he was parched. He went over to the mini fridge located at the back of the kitchen. Opening it revealed multiple water bottles and a tub of butter, because you know, why not? Of course, he reaches over to grab one of the many water bottles he had in store. After closing the fridge, he twist open the cap, allowing him to drink the cold tasteless liquid. That was refreshing. He capped it back up and went back to his chair. Settling back in, he close his eyes and let the silence fill his ears. It was something he was used to, something that the forest didn't offer. And maybe he liked the outdoors for that. It was almost never quite out there.

It helped covered up some of his...thoughts.

 **-everything below here is basically talking about the 3 months after the healing event (basically Shiro** **reminiscing)** **-**

By the time he got back, he knew what he was doing. He saw the both of them, down to their clothing. Well, only Allura was wearing clothes, but you get the point. This was some storybook stuff right here, and boy, was it a work in progress. Finding them this time around was harder. He didn't see them as often, but apparently one day Allura decided to show up and find him. Which is exactly what she did; and as per usual, she dragged Keith along with her. They told him they wanted to become friends, which Shiro thought weird that they had to go out of their way to say that, but he assumed that it was just a quirky monster thing. Of course he accepted, this was exactly what he wanted. They wouldn't kill him right? Keith alone already had more than enough chances to kill him, but he hasn't. That was enough to trust them. That, and the fact that Shiro's judgement seem to melt around these two. Something about just made him relax... **magic**. It probably was magic. He still wasn't sure yet.

One thing about being friends with people who basically live in a different world than you, was the fact they'd chat your ears off while trying to inform you about their home. Which was as accurate to the situation as I can get. They showed him more thing that he could count. Talked about how things worked around here. Spoke of specters he had yet to met and figures unknown to him. It was weird but lovely to hear all at the same time. It was nice knowing they wanted to teach him things. Unfortunately, it never was the other way around. Or early on, Shiro never got much of a chance to tell them about the human part of the world. Mostly Allura told him something about the forest, and Keith talked about the people or tribes there.

Allura was the only heir to the throne of the fairies. There was many types of fairies, but the one she belonged to were the Alteans. The kingdom they possessed within the forest that was called Altea. And apparently, the Alteans descended from a people of fairies called Arusian from their kingdom, Arus. Arus was desecrated by another group of people, gnomes apparently, and as such the survivors traveled along different lands until stopping here and building another kingdom, Altea. That was all very interesting, but then there was Voltron. Man, did that topic take him awhile to understand.

Voltron was a group of people who'd protected the forest and it's residence from themselves or outside threats. They were picked based off the judgement of 5 lioness familiars that the fairies somehow made. Which, Shiro didn't really understand how that was possible, but Allura said something to the affect of 'we found some really queer quintessence and using our magic, we forged the familiars'. Good enough. Although he still didn't know what quintessence was. And while Allura seemed more than happy to explain that to him, Keith would always shut her down about that. He just seemed to not want to talk about it. Anyway, the lions would chose a paladin to bond to, giving that person it's power while protecting it as well. When all five lions needed to be used, they can form Voltron, an entity that just didn't make sense to Shiro, no matter how many times they had explained it to him. But apparently there needed to be five paladins in order to from the entity. And there was only four at the moment. They needed a fifth one, the black paladin. Sounded pretty dark and foreboding in Shiro's option. But hey, what does he know about all of this?

Now, on the other hand, or paw quite frankly, there were the other paladins. Shiro had never met them and he still hasn't. But Keith and Allura had talked about them enough for him to have a vague grasp of them. There was a mermaid, a harpy, and something called a cecaelia. After asking what the heck a cecaelia was, he came to the conclusion that a cecaelia was the same type of monster Ursula is in the Little Mermaid. It was almost funny how different everyone was. None of them were even the same species! Come on now, even Keith admitted it was weird, but he liked it that way. It made them work better with each other, because now they had to work twice as hard to understand one another. Shiro didn't know why, but when he heard those words come out of Keith's mouth, he suddenly felt proud. And like many things, he didn't know why. Honestly, the amount of times he's been unsure on why he feels a certain way is starting to concern him. Buttttttttttttt-he'll ignore it for now, or at least for the time being. The paladins also had this color coded thing going on, like the lion familiars were all different colors. Green was the smallest, belonging to the harpy. Red only being slightly bigger than Green, which was also the familiar that chose Keith. Shiro did find it funny how Keith had red scales and Red chose him. When Allura informed him that the mermaid Blue chose had blue scales, Shiro stared laughing his ass off. It was just too funny-. Anyway, back to the topic. Like said before, Blue had chosen the mermaid, and was much bigger than Red and Green. Then there was Yellow, who was about the same size as Blue, just bulkier. She chose the cecaelia, who apparently had a yellow lower half. At that point Shiro mentally questioned the lions's judgement, although after hearing that the harpy was covered in brown feathers, he relaxed a little. At the very least there was that. And last but not least, there was Black. Black was the biggest of them all, she even had wings on top of that. Which, didn't click in Shiro's brain at first. Would would she have wings? She could already fly, she was a familiar after all. But then it occurred to him that it would be like questioning why would an eagle familiar have wings. As a familiar it could already fly, but it's supposed to be an eagle; it **needs** wings. Or at least, that's how he justified it.

Enough about Voltron though, there were other things to reminisce about. Like the so called 'beach' his friends talk about. To his understanding, it was merely of strip of land (that is indeed covered in dirt rather than sand) that met with the water of a lake that lead from and/or into river(s). He wasn't quite clear on the last part. As far as he's aware, the mermaid and the cecaelia lived somewhere within the lake. There was also some magic portal thing down there? He was unclear on that part. Either way, the 'beach' seemed to be a hang out spot for them, and that was all he needed to know.

- **reminiscing is done; back to the present-**

Shiro slowly got up to stretch, and while he wanted to go to bed, he already took a nap earlier and there was still time to kill. "I'll just call someone..." He looked around for his phone for a bit, wasting minutes as he did so. After realized it was in the kitchen, he dialed the number of one of his buddies and started up a chat. Sometimes, he forgets how lonely he was before he met his two newest friends.


	7. Chapter 6

Shiro sighed. He really should be used to this by now, but he still wasn't. He didn't think one could get familiar with the feel of a Naga warped around you. At least anytime Shiro said he was overdoing it; Keith would loosen his grip immediately. That was nice of him or maybe Keith just didn't want to see Shiro freak out again like that one time. Keith tends to forget that Shiro's sensitive to certain things. Apparently being squeezed too hard was one of them. "I'm sorry Shiro, it's just so cold. And you're body's so warm? All the time..." Keith nuzzled into Shiro's neck without much thought. A choked noise left the other man. As aloof as Keith is, he always seemed to find an excuse to be touching him. Shiro chalked it up to Keith being touched deprived. From the way they talked; it sounds like to him that people viewed Keith as the violent, angry, aloof one. Which Shiro understood why, Keith seemed pretty overprotective of him and would consistently hiss at things just beyond the tree line. He's seen him get into fights with other things before and Keith had that uptight nature about him when he wasn't being lazy or half asleep. So it made sense, but it wasn't entirely true. Regardless of what others may think, Keith was just a cuddly noodle that wanted some love. Or a hug. Shiro could definitely tell Keith liked hugs.

"Keith, stop. You are going to strangle him." Allura was fixing her hair back into a messy bun; quietly flying down to land upon the surface of a flower's petal. The dress she had on was plain, brown, and baggy. Shiro did not understand how fashion works in Altea. It made no sense to him. She was wearing a white dress two days ago with light blue and pink on it, with some yellow/golden trimming. And now she looked like the fairies you see through the artistic depiction of somebody who thinks fairies are mostly natural with everything.

Keith hissed in her direction. "I know what I'm doing, you don't-"

 _Pat_

A simple pat to the face by Shiro made him shut up. Keith scrunched up his face and looked away, making Allura laugh. "My apologies Keith, but we still need to get some more Nunvill. And no, we are not going to drink it. So fret not."

Shiro felt Keith go stiff at the mention of the name Nunvill. _What's that?_ "What's Nunvill, and why do you seem to hate it so much?" He mumbled over to the person laying on him.

Keith slowly removed himself from him. "It's purple and disgusting, that's all you need to know. I don't understand why its common name is 'nectar of the Gods'. Alteans have weird taste buds."

"You ate a bird out of mid-air, and _I_ have weird taste buds?!" Allura must have heard him, and shouted back to be heard by the both of them.

"No I didn't! I plucked it out of the air. I didn't eat it until after I de-feathered it!" Keith already sprawled himself out on the dead-leaf covered floor. He didn't make a point to move around. Instead, he just crossed his arms. Allura seemed to roll her multi-colored eyes and perch on his shoulder.

"Uh, guys. Where do we find this Nunvil stuff?" Shiro couldn't determine how serious their argument would get. So he decided to play it safe and suggest something to get them sidetracked from their current conversation. Which, and surprisingly enough, worked.

"Why, that's simple Shiro!" Allura leaned a tad bit towards him. "We go...to...the..."

"Why are you drawling out your sentence like that?" Keith commented as Allura talked.

The fairy princess merely giggled and replied. "I'm not sure, I just feel like it. But yeah, we have to head over to the tree springs. Nearby holds a key ingredient for Nunvil."

Keith made a face of disgust before speaking. "I can almost taste that foul drink now."

She tsked at him. "Your tongue is too sensitive you know."

"Your tongue is not sensitive enough."

Shiro sighed. Monsters are weird.

* * *

Allura hummed as she felt Shiro's fingers comb through her white long hair, keening them into braids. Usually she had Lance do this, as he loved to do people's hair. Especially hers, considering her natural volume of it. Voluminous hair was a common trait among her people. But right now she was hanging out with her human friend and the red paladin as well. The spell to make her as big as everyone else was very _neat_ in her option; especially right now. She's much too lazy to do her own hair and teaching Shiro how to do hair in general was...frustrating but quite fun, she had to admit. The foliage nearby them parted and the scent of water and fish tickled her nostrils. So it seems that Keith has arrived with some fresh fish. She felt the human stop braiding her hair and remove his hands from it. "Hello Keith. Did you find a nice catch?" She heard Shiro speak from behind her.

"Greetings Keith." She said for her own.

"Hi Shiro, Allura. And uh, I don't know... Most fish taste the same to me. Do you...want one?" Allura finally opened her eyes and turned her head to look at him. Keith had a clutch of fish in a netted bag he owns and was holding out the biggest catch to Shiro. _Awwww, that's a...oddly sweet gesture._ Shiro seemed to be surprised by the act before putting his hands out front of him.

"Oh, thank you. But, I would need to cook it first. Remember? Humans can't really eat raw foods...?" His smile was sheepish this time around.

"Oh...yeah right." Keith went over to slither over to Allura. "Here, hold this. I'll go get some wood." He slipped the fish back in the netted bag and held it out to her. She nodded and took it, then watched Keith go back into the woods. "I'll collect some wood for the fire then." He shouted before disappearing.

Shiro sighed and stood up, helping Allura stand up as well. "Guess I'll clear out a patch of land and collect rocks then?"

The princess narrowed her eyes. _What does he mean-oh._ She suddenly recalled what humans do to insure their fires does not burn down the forest, which was the same way many other special do it, but it was a thoughtful gesture. "No no, no need for that. I'll do it. **You** hold the bag." She practically shoved the bag into his hands and walked pass him. The current human-sized fairy raised her arms and out stretched her hands. She mumbled a spell under her breath and a translucent blue flame hovered about the ground. Shiro seemed confused, meanwhile, Allura felt her face warm up; making the pink marks on her face to glow neon pink. "Whoops! Wrong spell. Wasn't thinking." She moved her hands back and front in erratic patterns and the flame died down. She took in a breath, and tried again. This time her eyes were closed and again she started chanting. A circle of white light appeared on the floor and when it faded, the ground was clear of grass, weeds, and leafs. "There!" She exclaim, happy with her work.

Shiro nodded along and handed back the bag (she almost found it funny how many times the bag was being passed along) to start gathering some stones to lie around the edges of the clearing. She watched him do the work and decided to start talking about berries. They carried the conversation until he finished and sat back down. Allura pulled out some berries from her bag and asked if he wanted any. He declined any and they waited. Maybe she'll eat them after the fish…or maybe now.

 _Munch._

 _Munch._

 _Munch-_

A berry is dropped. "Shoot!"

Some time passed before Keith came back with sticks and branches for the fire. He spotted the clearing Allura made right away and set them down. He went back for more wood but came back within minutes this time around. "Okay, this should be enough." He brushed the dirt off his hands and forearm.

 **-Time Skip-**

The fire crackled and wavered in its warm ember self. Keith had made the fire with magic (his fire magic came from Red of course) and he was slow turning the large fish over the fire. They made a set up for that and everything. Guess they were having fish for lunch.

* * *

 _Regardless of what others think, Keith was just a cuddly noodle that wanted some love._

 **Is a reference sentence form another fic in which Keith is a naga. (AO3) The fic was female!Keith and it's Klance, but I gave it a chance just because I wanted to read something with naga!Keith. It was...not my cup of tea, but funny and interesting. BUT THEn SMUT HAPPENED AND I WAS LIKE 'HA HA, NOPE.' AND ZOOMED OUT OF THERE. Anyway, yeah.**

 **By the way, this is a very short chapter, I'm sorry. This was a sad attempt at filler to show you guys some interactions. Guess I can't even do that right.**

 **Does anyone even read this anymore? 'Cuz this is my 2nd favorite fic, which is the only reason why I still update...**

 **Oh well, to whoever the heck is still left, ch.7 will be much longer, I promise. It'll be interactions between the paladins and such. (Plus Coran and Allura. I might even write something in the setting of Altean?) And while I think I might have ch8 be where Shiro finally means the others; I'm not sure. Still feels like it's too early. But then again, this story is like...1300 words in and I have gotten pass one freaking plot point. It's so unprogressive and pointless, like my life. And guess whose fault is it? _Mine._**


	8. Chapter 7

Keith wasn't fond of many things. He liked training, his friends, hippos (they were a gift from the Lion Goddess herself, it would be the only explanation as to why there were a few hippos deep within the forest), snakes of course, and his familiar Red. She was a good kitty, however stubborn she may be. The list was bigger and went on longer, but the others wouldn't probably be able to guess what they might have been. Likewise, he hates or 'disliked' a plethora of things. He hated people with big egos (like a certain merman friend he knew), hated plants that moved on its own accord (he had some bad experiences about some moving vines), the Glara (goddamn purple gnomes) and losing. Losing was something that he had to accept. While he does, he doesn't particularly like it. Something he hated the most though, was when people leave him. Keith knew he had some walls up, his friends had been quite adamant about it, even his father would admit it. So it was rather weird when he realized he was rather fond of _him_.

By _him_ he meant the human, Shiro.

He liked Shiro and that was a fact. This was odd for a few reasons. A) he didn't tend to get along with people as quickly as the others did, and B) Shiro is a human, plain and simple.

The weird thing was, Allura also liked him too, but not for the reasons he did. Allura like Shiro because he was interesting, a new experience, a human who seems to be trustworthy. In a sense that a human probably wouldn't understand, Shiro was Allura's plaything. Something that would entertain or amuse her as she lived out her tremendously long life span. Keith had different reasons. He couldn't quite explain it, maybe it was because of the genuine infatuation Shiro seemed to have for him and all that resided within the forest, how nice he tended to be, and Keith had to admit, but he absolutely loved it when Shiro allowed him to hug or coil around him. At first it was just purely 'I need body heat and you're a warm source of heat' to 'I like hugging you and conversing'. But he'd rather bite a rabid rat than admit it.

All in all. Keith is confused. He enjoys the conversation they have with one another and has an urge to give Shiro gifts as a token of their friendship. Not that he hasn't done that already. Like that time with the fish… Keith buries his face in his hands. He is very much confused. Blasted Shiro, he really is all too fond of him. "What are you doing? Are you okay? Have something in your eye?"

Keith looks up, it's Katie, perched upon a rock in all her tiny harpy glory. She looks quizzingly at him. He scoots back just a tab bit, the palms of his hands lay flatly against the boulder. "I'm dying."

"No, you're blushing. You're sick?"

"No." Keith shifted himself between the boulder in front of the entrance to the low cave and well, nothingness. This was one of his more favored hiding spots. And while he could theoretically use it as a home, the low entrance made it inherently dangerous. Beside, his cave is much bigger and has a nicer-sized entrance. As he leaned against the side of the wall, he huffed. "I'm flustered."

"About what?"

"Why do you want to know?" He grunted out his answer, letting his friend know he wasn't going to elaborate any further then he already has. "Why are you here? This is my _hiding spot_ for a reason." He narrowed his eyes at her. He wasn't in the mood for conversation at the moment. "How did you _find_ me?" He spoke accusingly.

Katie shrugged as much as a creature with wings for arms could do. "I was flying. Saw and spotted you from aerial view, almost didn't noticed you since you hid your red tail." She ruffled her feathers, looking puffed up. "By the way, I brought everyone else."

"What?!"

"They were following me on the ground." It was almost a whine, but not really. Seemingly from nowhere the others appeared from behind her. Lance, Hunk, Nyma, and Rolo popped out of nowhere. The lack of Coran and Allura were quite prominent from the start. "I know you don't have to be jovial about this, but at least…" The words died in her throat as she reeled back into herself. "There's not much of a need to get angry." Somehow, someway, she finished, pulling the half-baked sentence right out of the ground. Like a worm to a small songbird. Songbirds are pestilent.

"Hi Keith." Hunk gave him a friendly wave, accompanied with a smile that had Keith's irritation subside only by a little. "Shay was suppose to come along with this, but Rax needed help with something. So..." He didn't finish his sentence, just looked off to the side. Like there was something going on beyond where Keith could see, something interesting that happened to catch Hunk's attention. There wasn't though. That was just Hunk being Hunk. Blah, end of story.

Keith slowly turned his head towards Katie, the harpy was leaning into a back-hug by Lance, the mermaid trying to curl around her the best he can. "Why?" His voice was raspy, tinted with a hint of betrayal. It was almost funny too, how ironically dramatic he was being.

"Well, because Rax had to clean the crystal in the A.C. sector-"

"No! That's not what I mean Hunk!"

* * *

Nyma laid on the dirt and partly grass covered ground. She closed her eyes, letting the sun rays hit her face. She listened to the conversation going on. Mostly Keith being mad that they found one of his hiding places. 'It's a _hiding spot_. You're not suppose to find it.' Keith had said, which only made Lance response with a simple, 'What? You need your quiet time to brood?' There was also Keith adding in his oh-so classical comments. 'No! To nap! And to get away from your incessant chattering. I favor the lack of noise.' Katie simply laughed and talked to Rolo. Nyma didn't really hear Hunk say much expect apologize. Besides that, the wind was blowing and rowing. Don't know where it is going or how it is flowing. This was all too funny to her. "Can you guys keep the sound down? I'm trying to take a nap here!" However Nyma still wanted a nap and a nap she would get. The yellow-skinned monster will get her way. One way or another.

"No! Why are you and Rolo even here?" The Naga all but screeched at her in response.

 _Oh my God, Keith._ The house-monster grinded her teeth. She felt her eyelid involuntary twitch. Maybe she was ready to strangle someone with her so-called 'banana hands'.

* * *

"Oh. So…you want to show Shiro off?" Allura was currently in the state of her normal-sized self. Taking a seat upon a flower's center. There were a few bugs here and there that she needed to swat away. Perhaps even shove a few off because _ew, they were gross_ , but overall she was quite content on her little disgustingly textured bumpy seat. She was used to it by now. Hitherto, if the bud wasn't wet, she would sit. Even with pollen. On the other hand bees are rather frightening...in either size that is. Most don't cater and therefore will not listen. Wild cards are always scary. Even if these ones in particular die after attacking you. Darn bees.

"What?" Keith asked, it broke the silence that Allura didn't even realized had lapsed over the two of them. His eyes widened for a moment before understanding why she didn't get it. "No! I want to introduce him to the others. Not show him off, he's not mine." Clarification is the best you're going to get in this type of world.

Allura nodded. "Truth. Neither of us have scented him yet."

"You make that sound weird."

" _You_ make _this_ sound weird."

"I make everything sound weird! It's my voice." Cue the voice crack near the end. Keith turned half his upper body to face her, his arms thrown into the air to solidify his point. Not that it did much but tell the fairy princess that he was _really_ worked up about all this.

Allura grinned, her oddly sharp teeth showing. He was right. Keith's voice had the tendency to crack and he didn't word things in the nicest way. He was blunt and when he got mad, he didn't hold it in as well as Katie could. Therefore, Keith wasn't the shining diplomat the elders felt the paladins should be. However the Lions chose the paladins, not them. Besides, Keith was fun. Allura liked that, although sometimes she'd wished he'd shut up at certain times. Which is ironic since he's probably the quietest paladin of the pack. Lance being the most verbose. Katie only being long winded when explaining stuff and Hunk with all his rambling and things of the like. Actually, now that she thinks about it all of the paladins are chatty _but_ Keith. "True, however I don't think I'll go along with this nor say it's refined." She shook her head, closing her eyes. Momentarily she could feel a weak breeze ruffle her hair.

"That's what I said when we partially stalked Shiro." Keith replied with exasperation lacing his voice. He shifted his tail to allow him to sit in a circle of himself; his arms were crossed, eyebrow raised. "But I was dragged along with it anyway." He watched as Allura made an array of facial expressions. Honestly she's been using him and the other paladin as an excuse to not have bodyguards accompany her. He wonders why she didn't just sneak out anymore. Doesn't King Alfor let her out on her own sometimes? Or is it the Queen who let's her... _Eh, doesn't matter._ For now at least.

"You have herded me into a corner."

"Good." A simply word as that let them ruminate about what they should do and how to go about it. Allura flew along the red-scaled naga as they relocation to ensure no one important would hear them confabulate about their plan. "It's has to go well." Keith mentions at one point, when the both of them are warped up inside a particularly roomy dead hollow tree. Earlier they had decided that that would be their secret hideout of conversing. He shifts inside there, the sound of scales peppered place to place on his skin scraping against the interior of the tree. His shoulder in particular is mostly grinding the wood like sin. They speak about how they should set up, get their friends in a spot with thick canopy above to hide Shiro. "Would Shiro appreciate you hovering him that high?" Eyebrow raised, another question asked. Keith wanted answers.

"No." She stated simply. A loopy and empty smile on her face, that meant 'I don't care'. Keith grimaces at her expression. Allura is scary at times. Something that doesn't need be reiterated. "I'll talk him into it. Besides, both you and I know that he is itching to meet them. It will be fun!"

"More like frustrating and convoluted."

"Well maybe but..." Allura had her hands intertwined, like a child. "It will commence either way. Neither of us have a choice. His smell will rub off eventuality. Or maybe he might start smelling like us and someone here smells him, that'll be confusing." The princess wrinkled her nose and looked right up at Keith instead of the wood walls around her. "I am tired of having to clean you up all the time. You're always all over him."

"He's always warm."

"I'm warm!"

"You're too small." He boops her on the head cautiously with his clawed digit. He loves his friend. They may get on his nerves and sometimes they're just too much and he needs his 'alone time'. Add in a 'not bratty, but not dignified either' princess. They...they were his family. He missed that. And now they might have someone else to add, or at least an extended member. He highly doubts Shiro would get everyone's favor. At least they can all met. That's a start. "How about 3 cycles from now? That's enough time." A little face looks back at him from fixing its hair. More than enough time, really.

"Yeah sure, I'll make the arrangements. Should I contact Coran?"

"No, it should be just us."

* * *

Keith rolled his shoulders. "Yeah." He answered Katie's question. "He's not from this neck of the woods."

"Forest."

"Same difference."

"Not really."

Keith scowled at the harpy. She was starting to get on his nerves. "Katie; doesn't matter." He snapped. "Fact is, we have a very special guest that's not from here." Keith struggled with finding a way to word his sentences. Maybe he shouldn't have been the information bearer. Then again he failed to figure out how to effectively hide Shiro away. Scent and all. "Allura's with them right now."

"She's here too?!" Lance interrupted him this time around. With his webbed hands, he boosted himself off the rock his leaned against. Hunk was leaning on the other side, while Katie nested herself on the top of the rock. Minimum space usage for them it seems. Keith faltered at his words. He was more exasperated than annoyed if anything.

"Yes."

"Neat."

Keith felt anger bubble up from within his being. All the interruptions was starting to irritate him. The Naga took a deep breath and pitched the bridge of his nose. He _knows_ he has a temper. He's been working on it. Alright, all he needs to do is breath. "Okay, when you meet them, have a clear mind about it, alright? They'll be more scared of you than you to it."

"Wow, it almost sounds like you're trying to introduce us to a mouse or something." Lance joked.

"A rabid mouse." Katie added.

"Uh, yeah whatever. Just shut up." He slouched in indignation and groaned into his hand.

* * *

Takashi Shirogane was really starting to question how he got here, like seriously. What the ever loving fuck? He didn't agree to this, he didn't _want_ to agree. But it seems like fairy folk around here seemed to forget that human aren't toys for their amusement, nor were they inherently inferior. Okay sure, fairies have magic plus that _with_ tech stuff, but humans have sliced bread and Betty White! Beat that.

He looked over to a human-sized Allura. She looked back at him and smiled. It was a closed mouth one, one that was simple and cute. It didn't reach her eyes. It don't matter though. He wasn't sure what was going on entirely, like, why does meeting their other friends have anything to do with him having to be hidden away in the treetops, like a mistake? Allura was resting at the angle of a branch from where it spouted from the tree base. He was just free floating over branches and leaves and twigs. It was great. **Not.** He felt…that Allura didn't understand something still, the fact he's not a toy. He knows that she knows that on a literal level, but he had doubts about if she understood that on a 'he's a person too' level. Her mannerisms, the way she acts. The giddiness of her voice when she asked him to do something, or explain how humans do this or that. From the very way she would carry herself when he was telling stories, the act of how she choose to lean, if she ever choose at all. He's a prop. A toy. Something that won't last long and she's just trying to enjoy the sheer novelty of him. It was her utter lack of intimacy with him that made the questions take hold a part of his mind. The lack of empathy. It felt empty, like the way one would feel it for an animal; only to leave it for the next person to find. While Allura began to hum a tune of old to herself, Shiro **_breathed_**. Really breathed. He closed his eyes and concentrated. Branches all over pointed at him every which way. He could hear the sounds of the other voices from below. He couldn't tell who was who though. The sounds of Allura and his breathing. Birds flying here and there, the perch ones watching him. With their beady bird eyes. Judging him. Bastards. Yes. There's wasn't much to do, to see, to hear. He opens his eyes again. Shiro didn't actually _want_ to agree with this, but the way both the naga and fairy had worded their request, it seems pretty obvious to him that they weren't really planning in him declining their idea. At this point he had an vague guess of what they would do if he said no, and while they probably wouldn't hurt him, he still didn't want to make them mad. There's just somethings you have to go with the flow with. Some people have an advantages over others. Like, people will get more favor based off their gender or race, age or appearance. And sometimes it's just because people will have more power than others, more influence.

"Shiro!" Allura harshly whispers. "We're going down now." He looks at her and she nods to him. She closes her eyelids and clasps her hands together. He hears her chant in that weird-sounding language again. Fearing what he might end up seeing, he closes his eyes as soft blue light is emitted from nowhere. In a matter of seconds he feels solid ground beneath his feet. Someone goes to grab his wrist. He snaps his violet eyes to match purple-blue ones. Shiro always found her eyes odd, but they were pretty. She pulls him along the foliage and he can hear the people clearly. It's obvious by the words being exchanged that they can hear them too.

"Oh, is that them?" A high-pitched male voice asked.

"Allura's with them, right?" A young androgynous voice asks next.

Somebody else just noises and he _knows_ that sigh was Keith.

The girl next to him pushes aside a curtain of vines and they step into the clearing together. Her hand glows with something and he suspects she must've stopped using another spell. Maybe to hide his scent? Their always talking about scents and whatnot. There Shiro is faced with 3 unfamiliar faces and one he recognizes.

"Guys, this is-" Keith only got three words out before a octopus-mermaid, (what were those things called, cecaelia?) violently flinched away from Shiro. He falls behind the rock, but quickly recovers with the help of his abundant limbs. There isn't so much a scream coming from him than a surprised gasp, then a whimper as he slithers backwards. Shiro wasn't counting on this type of reaction. Nether Keith nor Allura told him something like this would happen. Didn't they 'have everything under control'? _Heh, so much for that._ The frail-looking harpy (he knows what a harpy is, Shiro isn't dumb) wasn't much better, she was alarmed by his presence and while she does get airborne, she flew seemingly in place a couple feet above the rock. Her talons are up and poised, like she's ready to attack, but the small harpy makes no such move. She seems well, confused for a better lack of terms. Like she wants to flee, but is not sure if she should. The human's eyes land on the dark skinned mermaid with the blue scales. He's just been quite while his friends freak the fuck out. Shiro almost had a moment to say something, maybe to apologize for startling them when the mermaid reels himself up. He snarls at him and he can hear Allura gasp next to him. With all the time Shiro got before the other moved, he notes that the mermaid had way to much fucking teeth. That's all he gets to note though because the mermaid propels himself forward with his strong tail to launch himself hurling into Shiro. The man is knocked down immediately. He barely gets time to process his head colliding with the ground, barley missing a tree root, not that he would've known anyway. The shouts from the fairy princess are all but lost to his ears and _ridiculously_ strong arms pin him down to the ground. A growl is emitted from the merma-the _thing's_ throat and Shiro has half the mind to defend himself. Though, seeing as he's at a huge disadvantage, he attempts to gain space between themselves by using both arm to shove him away. This is only so effective, and the creature chomps down to bite, narrowly avoiding biting his neck. Shiro shutters because just the sound of that action alone has him shaking in his boots. You know, aside for the fact this thing is trying to **kill** him. Anyway, he notices the mermaid going in for a second shot and with his panicking brain going to 'I'm a cornered animal' mode, he raises his prosthetic arm up. The creature's jaw unhinged this times, fulling reliving thin creepy-as-shit teeth. He bites down, but quickly release moments before being pulled back by an equally angry and freaked Allura and Keith. Shiro is aware there's a cacophony of voices shouting, yelling, and talking over one another, but… He sees yellow spots steadily claiming his vision. Great. He knows exactly what's going on. Shiro looks at his left arm for a quick check before his blackout, and surprisingly there isn't any dents in the metal. Scratches, yes, but no dents. He wonders why, but…everything goes black and he doesn't even recall the last thing he heard.

Huh, what a shitty introduction.

* * *

 **Lance isn't that strong compare to monster standards, he's kinda eh, but remember. Shiro is only human, so to him Lance is crazy strong. I also love the concept of mermaids being aggressive when need be and having sharp long teeth. Too much teeth, their jaw unhinging, sooooo expect Lance to be doing that sort of thing. ;) I'm not sorry for that. I write what I want. For this fanfiction at least because no one reads this and I haven't heard what someone thinks about this in like a year. :o**

 **Let's ignore the fact I haven't updated this since October of 2017. Shhhhhhhhhhh.**


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